Flying Saucers Over Istanbul

Original title: Uçan Daireler İstanbul'da

“Cardboard robots and belly dancers... what more could you want.”

Directed by Orhan Erçin

Turkish sci-fi comedy from 1955. It’s recommended for fans of old Turkish movies and psychotronic cult films. It has a quite different feel than the more familiar superhero films from the country like Kilink Istanbulda, etc. It more closely resembles something like Abbot and Costello On Mars, with the addition of belly dancing. There are leotard-clad female aliens, a Plan 9-style spaceship, a Marilyn Monroe imitator. and a robot made out of a cardboard box. The leader of the female aliens tries her hand at interpretive dance. The plot, or what I can discern of it, involves a club founded by older unattractive wealthy women. The club uses sexy belly dancing to lure men in, then the womenfolk attempt to have their way with them.